Everything Revolves
by NigelTonks
Summary: 2nd story in Game,Set,Match series. T.K befriends Lara and developes a crush on her. Meanwhile, Gabe and Max struggle to complete a science project.
1. TKO

A/N: My second fanfic. Like I mentioned in the summary, I'm going to delve more into the character of Lara and why she doesn't want to go to Cascadia.

Theodore "T.K" Kennedy gripped his tennis racquet tightly in one hand, a ball in the other. He needed to nail this point to stay in the game. He faced his friend, Gabriel Dawson and served the ball. Gabe swung his own racquet and smashed the ball with a mighty backhand, hitting it back to T.K. T.K ran as fast as he could to meet the ball and swung. He missed.

"Game to Gabe."

Gabe's sister, Riley sat up in the judge's chair where she had been calling the game. It had been a good thing they were only playing on the back court because that had been the worse game he had ever played.

Gabe ran forward and jumped the net, landing on T.K's side.

"That completely sucked, T." Gabe said. "No offence or anything."

"I deserved that. My head's just not in it right now."

Riley had gotten down from the judge's seat and Chase Dubois and Maxine West, two more friends, had gotten up from the bench where they had been watching.

"Well, you had better get your head into it." Max said. "The Bellerophon Tournament starts in two days."

"And if you don't at least come in the top 15, you're demoted to Group B." Chase finished.

"And-" Riley began.

"Come on, guys." Gabe said, cutting of his twin sister. "There's been talk about the tournament for days. I'm sure T.K doesn't need reminding."

"Damn straight." T.K said, bending over and breathing in and out.

There had been talk about the tournament for days now. It was important because it was the first real tournament Cascadia was offering. It was hard to believe they had been at Cascadia for two weeks now. The five friends had grown quite close over the past fortnight and T.K appreciated their concern about his performance. Even if it drew close to nagging. Because all 5 were in Group A, they automatically qualified for the Bellerophon Tournament.

T.K wasn't even sure why his game had gone off over the last couple days. Gabe was the highest ranked player at Cascadia so there wasn't any shame in losing to him but T.K was one of the higher ranked players and he usually got at least a couple games or even a set when playing his friend.

"Well, we'd love to stay and chat," Max said, grabbing Gabe's arm. "but we have an assignment to work on."

Gabe groaned loudly. Gabe and Max had been assigned to be partners in an assignment given out in Science class. Gabe, however, had kept making up excuses, saying he couldn't do it and now it was due in two days. T.K, Chase and Riley had all finished theirs.

"You promised that right after your match, we'd work on it." Max said, pulling on his arm slightly.

"Fine." Gabe said, grumpily. "Later, guys." He said as Max dragged him away.

"Well, no assignments and no practice." Chase said, watching Gabe and Max disappear behind the wall. "I'm thinking the lake?"

"Sounds good." Riley said, looking at T.K. "T, you in or do you want to stay an practice?"

"Yeah, sure. I could use the break."

Very few people went to the lake. They all preferred the giant televisions in the open rather then the magics of nature. The Open was okay but the lake was a lot quieter.

A/N: For those of you who don't know, Bellerophon was a Greek warrior who killed the chimera monster. I honestly have no reason for picking him as the name for the tournament. I just thought it sounded cool.


	2. Skip the Stone

"What do you want to do?" Max asked, flipping through her science notes. "Tornado machine? Homemade camera? Ooh, we could demonstrate different types of acids."

Gabe and Max were sitting around the library, trying to come up with a project to do. Lucky for them, it had been completely their decision. Unlucky for them, the whole thing was boring Gabe to death!

"I think you're taking this a little too seriously, Max." Gabe said, laying his head on the table.

"No, I'm taking this just the right amount of seriously." Max snapped back. "Two days, Gabe! We have two days and we don't have any clue what we're even going to do."

Time to turn on the old charm, Gabriel my boy.

"Look, Max." Gabe said in a seductive voice. "I don't exactly know a lot about science. It's my worse subject. So why don't we pick something out and I leave you do to your brilliance. I'd just get in the way."

Max looked into Gabe's eyes, emotionless at first but then a half-smile fit onto her face and her voice dropped to a flirty tone as well.

"Well, Gabe." She said, moving her face towards his. "That sounds good. But I have a better idea: We do this my way this time and we do it yours when HELL FREEZES OVER!"

Gabe flew backwards in surprise at this last comment.

"Okay, okay. Sorry." Gabe said, reaching hastily for his own notes. "Let's pick a topic."

"Thank you." Max said, dropping her voice back to its sweet, mellow tone.

Chase skipped his stone into the lake. T.K watched as it bounced two, three, four times off the water before it dropped.

"Damn it." Chase muttered.

"Ten for me." T.K said, extending his hand. He had bet Chase 10$ that he could skip his stone farther then his.

"No fair." Chase said, handing the bill to T.K.

"How wasn't it fair?" Riley asked, who sat farther up the beach.

"I…don't…know." Chase said. "But every little bit of my money goes towards a new racquet."

"Then why'd you bet him in the first place?" Riley asked, rolling her eyes.

"Did you not hear me? Every little bit counts! I need all I can get!" Chase said back.

T.K rolled his eyes as well. No one understood Chase's logic except for Chase.

"Oh, my God." Riley groaned lying back on the sand. "Max, where are you when I need you?"

"Probably in a closet with Gabe." Chase muttered, smirking. Riley looked at him with disgust.

"Every time you make a comment like that, Chase, I die a little inside."

T.K did his best to keep from laughing. True, Chase's comments were getting a little annoying but there was no denying there was an attraction between Gabe and Max. The on and off flirting over the last two weeks had definitely confirmed that.

"So what do you say?" T.K said, flipping through his tens. "Double or nothing?"

"You're on." Chase said, picking up a stone.

He was about to throw it when a sob broke out over the silence.

"Okay, Riley." Chase said, dropping the rock. "I'm sorry about the comments but you have to admit there's chemistry between them. It's nothing to cry about."

"That wasn't me." Riley said, looking around.

T.K looked around also to see who had uttered the sob.

"Over there." Chase said, pointing farther down the beach.

Sitting alone was Lara Taylor, her face in her arms, crying very loud sobs.

"Is that Lara?" Riley said, standing up to get a better look.

"Looks like it." Chase said.

"Wonder what she's crying about." Chase said.

Riley snorted.

"She's always crying about something, tennis, the food here, tennis, her accommodations, tennis, the exercise and, oh, one more thing. Oh, what was it? Oh, yeah. Tennis."

"Why does she hate tennis so much?" T.K asked, not looking away from Lara.

"Beats me." Riley answered as she sat back down.

"But you're her roommate." Chase said. "You're telling me you don't why she hates it here?"

"Max and I try our best to avoid her. We barely say anything to her."

"You haven't had a conversation and you've been living together for two weeks?" T.K asked.

"Well, there was that time a week ago when Max picked up her flat-iron and asked what it did." Riley said.

"What did she do?" Chase asked.

"She grabbed it from her hands and said that if she touched any of her things again, she'd bitch-slap her into tomorrow."

"What a charming young lady." Chase said, sarcastically.

"Well, someone should talk to her." T.K said. "Otherwise she'll shrivel up from loss of bodily fluids."

Neither Chase nor Riley got up nor looked like they were considering doing it.

"Well, don't everyone jump up at once." T.K scowled, dropping his rock.

T.K was willing to bet Gabe would have volunteered to go. Except for Marcus Freeman, Gabe could talk to pretty much anyone. But the Prince of Cascadia wasn't around so he guessed it was his duty to try to lift Lara's spirits.

He walked over the sand towards where Lara was sitting. It wasn't until he was about 3 feet from her that she noticed he was walking towards her.

She looked up at T.K. Even though her eyes were red and puffy and her eyeliner was running, she was still drop dead gorgeous. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail so T.K got to witness every inch of her wonderful face. Nothing on Riley or Max but T.K privately thought she was the prettiest girl at Cascadia.

"What so you want?" she sobbed.

"I…" T.K began. In all honesty, he didn't exactly know what he was going to say. He hadn't had a lot of experience talking to girls. Riley and Max were different. They were friends. The only girlfriend he had ever had was a girl from London, England and lasted only about two weeks. Although they had talked every day, it was only through text messages.

"I… noticed you were crying and I was just wondering what was wrong."

"None of your business!" she snapped, sobbing as the words came out.

T.K tried a new approach. The charming humor that Gabe always used.

"Look, I can tell you need to talk to someone. And just between you and me, I don't see anybody else lined up behind me." Not quite as smooth as Gabe.

"I'd really rather not talk about it." Lara said, her voice a little softer.

"Well, I'm not going to leave until you throw me a bone here." T.K said, sitting down beside her. He reached inside his pocket and gave a napkin from breakfast to her for her to wipe her eyes with.

She looked into his face and reluctantly took it.

"I…" she said, wiping her eyes. "I don't want to be here."

"Well, I gathered that much." T.K said, trying to say it in a comforting tone. "I'm friends with your roommates, Riley and Max. They told me you don't want to be here."

Lara suddenly looked shocked.

"You talk about me?"

"No." T.K said before she could interrupt. "Riley and Max just say that you can't be the most… agreeable person to live with."

T.K expected her to flip out at him again but she didn't. Instead, she, for the first time, since T.K had first seen her, smiled.

"I guess I haven't exactly been the most agreeable roommate."

"Why don't you tell me why you don't want to be here?" T.K said, bringing his knees up to his chest.

"Its just… I've always relied on my looks. I knew I wanted to be a model when I was six. When I got into Junior High, I charmed boys into doing assignments for me."

"You mean the…" T.K carefully chose his words. "Revealing outfits?"

"Yeah." Lara said, her facing tingeing slightly. "Before I knew it, I had gotten into the wrong crowd and some…substances and… yeah."

"So, you're parents sent you here because…"

Lara smiled again.

"They were both huge athletes in high school. They figured that by sending me here would not only get me away from the source of all the trouble but teach me a little discipline and get me in better shape."

T.K could tell that she hadn't told this to anyone. He felt slightly proud that she had decided to divulge this to him.

"So, basically, they were killing two birds with one stone." She finished.

"Well, tennis can be fun." T.K said. "If you want, I could teach you a few things that could make it easier.

"I don't think so." Lara said. "I mean… no offense but if the coaches can't teach me how to hit a little ball, how can you?"

"Well, I've been told I make one hell of a tutor." T.K answered.

"Maybe." She said, checking her watch. "Damn. I promised my mom I'd call her."

She rose to her feet.

"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. I don't even know your name."

"That's alright." T.K said, smiling at her. "The important thing is that you're not crying anymore."

She laughed lightly.

"Theodore Kennedy." T.K said, offering his hand. "Nice to officially meet you."

She reached down and shook it.

"Lara Taylor. Nice to meet you, Theodore Kennedy." She said, turning around and beginning to jog away.

"Call me T.K!" he shouted after her.

He sighed, got up and walked over to Riley and Chase.

"So you still have your head I see." Riley said.

"What happened?" Chase asked.

"We talked." T.K said. "She's more human then you think."

A/N: What's this? Dorky T.K getting the girl? Maybe. Maybe not. Read on and find out. Also, I apologize if Chase's logic confused you. Review!


	3. Setting the NotDate

"I'm telling you, Max is driving me crazy." Gabe said, backhanding the tennis ball as hard as he could. He, Chase and T.K were at practice, putting a ball machine through its paces.

"And not the good way. I mean, its like she's obsessed."

"Oh, come on, Gabe." T.K said, stepping front of the ball path as Gabe went behind Chase.

"Did you guys at least pick a topic?" Chase asked.

"Yeah." Gabe answered as T.K smashed the ball. "We're doing a model of the solar system. It's gonna be on a swinging mobile behind a magnificent starry background."

He said the final sentence in Max's tone of voice.

"Well, at least you're spending time with her." Chase said, fore handing an incoming ball.

"Well, from what I hear," Gabe said with a sly smile. "Our little T.K is getting mighty close to the talk about the birds and the bees."

"What?" T.K said, missing the ball.

"Uh, you and Lara. Riley told me." Gabe said, mock ignorantly.

"Did she now?" T.K said, making a mental note to make Gabe an only child.

"She won't think of me like that." T.K said. "She's like the hottest girl on campus and I'm the captain of the dork brigade."

"Well." Chase said in a geek-like tone. "You know what they say, Theodore. Opposites attract."

"Ha, ha." T.K sarcastically laughed, winding up and smashing the ball again.

"Well, at least your game is back on track." Gabe said.

"Yeah, I guess the talk with Lara lifted my confidence."

"Aww." Chase said, grinning wildly.

"Shut up, Chase." T.K and Gabe said together.

"Alright, that's it for today!" Skinner shouted to the group of students.

"Gabriel!"

"Oh, damn it!" Gabe said, running over to the bench. He grabbed his racquet cover and ran back to the locker room.

A moment later, Max had walked over to T.K and Chase.

"Where'd Gabe go?" she asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Don't know." The boys answered. Gabe had asked them not to reveal where he was if Max should ask.

"Well, if you see him, tell him that he's being a real jerk and I can't do this alone."

She stomped away.

"You know, I don't really feel that well about this whole "lying to Max" thing." Chase said as they walked over to their own tennis cases. They were about to walk into the locker room when T.K nearly ran into Lara.

"Oh, God. Sorry." T.K said.

"That's okay." She said, smiling.

"That smile looks good on you." T.K said, grinning as well. "You should keep it."

Chase looked at him in disbelief.

"Who are you?" he muttered. "And what have you done with T.K?"

"This is Chase." T.K said, ignoring his friend's earlier comment.

"Lara." Lara said, offering her hand.

"Yeah." Chase said, obviously amazed who was talking to him. "I'm Chase."

"Yeah." Lara said, looking uncertainly at T.K.

"Uh, Chase." T.K said. "You mind, you know, leaving please?"

This snapped Chase out of his daze.

"Yeah, sure."

He looked once more at Lara and walked toward the locker room.

"Interesting, person your friend." She said.

"Yeah, he's okay at times." T.K answered.

"Um, I was wondering if I could take you up on your offer. To teach me how to play?"

"Yeah. Sure." T.K said.

"Is tonight okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm free. Let's say 8:00 at the back court."

"Until then." She said.


	4. Taking the Chance

Gabe strummed his guitar, playing a low note. He was about to start playing "Hotel California" when he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in." he said. He was all by himself in his room, mainly avoiding Max.

But his intention had come to an end because Max walked into the room, carrying a piece of Bristol board. Gabe braced himself for a yelling at but it never came. Instead, Max simply turned the board so it faced Gabe. It showed nine round, colorful balls drawn onto the board. It took Gabe a moment to realize that it was their solar system project.

"I just want you to know." She said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "That all I wanted was to do a project together with you. If you spent half the amount of time doing this project as you did avoiding it, we not only would have an awesome project but I think we would've gotten to know each other a lot better."

She reached behind her back and brought out a folder. She threw it in the garbage can beside Gabe's bed and walked out of the room.

"Max." Gabe said weakly, though there was no hope she would've heard him. He placed his guitar onto his bed and got up. He reached inside the garbage and brought the folder out. He spent a few minutes flipping through it. It turned out to be the "blueprints" for the mobile that Max had been planning on making. He turned another page and came to a list of things needed for the project. He read through the list and saw that the things needed were easily attainable.

Gabe closed the folder and exited his room. He had things to do.

"So you have a date?" Chase asked.

"It's not a date." T.K said for what felt like the billionth time.

"But you're teaching her tennis?" Riley asked.

T.K, Riley and Chase were in the Open, discussing the not-date that T.K and Lara had.

"Yes, I am teaching her." T.K said. "It's no big deal."

"Yes, it is!" Chase and, surprisingly Riley, said.

"Lara is an incredibly beautiful young woman." T.K said. "I was president of the Chess Club in Junior High."

"You know what your problem is?" Riley said, sounding annoyed. "You have no confidence in yourself. You think you're a dork but you have just as much chance to get with Lara as any other guy here."

Chase snorted.

"Chase!" Riley shouted.

"Sorry."

"My point is…" Riley said, throwing an evil look at Chase "is that you do have a chance and tonight's it."

T.K looked from Riley to Chase. Did he have a chance with Lara?

"Do you think…?"

"YES I DO!" Riley said, even louder, earning some questioning stares from some other students.

"Ere-hay omes-cay ara-Lay." Chase said in bad pig latin.

Lara was walking over, dressed in tennis clothes and clutching a racquet.

"Hey, T.K." she said.

"Hey, Lara." He said, as she arrived.

"Uh, you know, Chase and Riley." More "heys" were excused.

"You ready?" she asked.

"Yup. Just let me grab my racquet." T.K said, getting up from the table.

"Good luck." Riley muttered low enough for just T.K to hear.

"Damn it!" Lara exclaimed, messing up another attempt at a serve.

"You're trying too hard." T.K said, patiently.

They had been practicing for the better part of an hour. As it turned out, Lara wasn't exactly that bad. Her backhand was especially strong. It was the serve that kept screwing her up.

T.K stepped over the net and walked over to her.

"You need to relax." He said, taking the hand holding the ball in his hand.

"Loosen your grip in the hand holding the ball." He said, loosening her fingers.

"And grip the racquet farther down the handle." He moved her hand down the racquet as well.

He let go of her hands and stepped back.

"Go ahead."

Lara took in a deep breath and let it out. She tossed the ball above her head and swung the racquet. It came into contact with the ball and sailed over the net, bouncing inside the boundary.

"I did it!" she said, loudly.

She ran over and threw her arms around him.

"Thank you, T.K. So much!"

T.K smiled. He was proud of her success. And he was now painfully aware of how close they were. Riley's words come drifting back to him.

He paused for a moment and leaned in towards her face, brushing his lips against hers.

It lasted only for a moment before Lara withdrew from the kiss and the hug.

"T.K. What are you doing?" Lara asked incredulously, turning scarlet.

"I-I-I don't know." T.K said, turning equally red and feeling even more embarrassed then he ever felt before.

"T.K, I'm sorry. I-I can't." Lara said, turning around and walking swiftly from the court.

T.K merely stood there, for how long, he didn't know.


	5. D Day

"Have you seen T.K anywhere?" Riley asked, as she sat down across from Chase in the cafeteria. The Bellerophone tournament would be starting in a couple hours and they wanted to wish T.K good luck in case they didn't see him.

"I didn't hear him come in last night." Chase said, opening a carton of milk. But his bed sheets were all ruffled. He must've gotten up pretty early."

"Things with Lara must've gone badly." Riley said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"What makes you say that?" Chase asked.

"Female intuition. And the fact that Lara cried again last night."

"I thought you said she was always doing that."

"She recently stopped. T.K must've been the cause of that."

"Oh, damn it." Chase said quietly. "I'm willing to bet that T.K's game is headed in the same direction as last night."

Max sat at her desk, waiting for Gabe to show up. They were supposed to be presenting their project next. Typical Gabe. Can't even take the time to present his own project.

"Miss West." Mr. Willow said as the kids who just presented their project sat down. "It is you turn."

Max got to her feet and, holding her pitiful project her hands, walked to the front of the class.

"Uh." She said hesitantly. She forgot that all her oral notes had been in the folder she had thrown out.

"This is-"

"Wait!" The shout came from the doorway. Every head in the room turned to see the origin of the shout.

Gabe walked into the classroom. What he was holding caused Max to grin from ear to ear. Gabe was carrying the mobile from the blueprints she had drawn up. It was completely flawless. Every aspect of the planets was painted onto colorful Styrofoam balls. They hung in an orbit in the exact right order. Every single little detail she had written down in her notebook had come into the physical world. In his other hand was a large piece of Bristol board completely painted black with sparkles dusted all over it, showing off a gorgeous starry scene.

"Mr. Willow. Sorry I'm late but that isn't our project." Gabe said, groggily pointing at the Bristol board in Max's hand. Max noticed that Gabe's eyes were shadowed and heavily bagged. He apparently hadn't slept in awhile.

"Well, Mr. Dawson. Whenever you're ready." Mr. Willow said.

Gabe reached under his arm and withdrew the notebook with all the notes about the project inside.

"I hope you don't mind if you do most of the talking." Gabe muttered, blinking hard. "God, I need a coffee."

Max smiled at him once more and delved into the project, much more confident that she had been before.

"Match, Daniel Gregory." The announcer called.

"Damn it!" Chase and Riley exclaimed. That was T.K's second match and he hadn't won one single set.

"If he keeps playing like this," Riley said as they watched T.K throw his racquet against the wall in frustration. "He'll be lucky to finish last."

"What are we going to do about this?" Chase asked. "This is all psychological. We need to get his mind off Lara or he'll be in Group F by the end of the day."

"Hmm." Riley muttered as T.K walked off to the locker room. "I think I need to have a little talk with my roommate."

Riley walked to her dorm room. She knew that Lara would be there. After winning a few matches and putting T.K's teachings to good use, Lara had left the court.

Riley opened the door and walked in. Lara sat on her bed, leafing through a magazine though not looking particularly interested in it.

"Hey." Riley said.

"Hi." Lara said weakly.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

There was a momentary silence.

"Okay." Riley said. "What the hell happened last night? With T.K?"

Lara looked at her with genuine sadness.

"He…" she said, quietly. "He kissed me."

Riley said nothing, trying to think of how to respond of to this. When she told T.K to act on his feelings, she had no idea that he would actually do it.

"And what did you do afterwards." Riley asked in a small voice.

"I-I left."

"What?"

"I left."

Riley couldn't believe this.

"Lara, look. I know we don't know each other that well but what you did was completely wrong. T.K really likes you or rather _liked_ you."

"You don't know what I'm feeling!" Lara said loudly. Riley fell silent.

"My whole life, boys have flocked me because of my looks. My apparent friends only stayed with me because I was popular. They didn't listen to a word I said. They just wanted to be seen with me. And, T.K comes along and I thought I finally had a friend who could see through the makeup and like me for me. But, now he likes me too."

Lara had tears in her eyes now. Before Riley knew what hit her, she was sobbing in her arms.

"I just wish I had what you have." She sobbed.

"Well, if you hadn't pushed us away like that when you first met us, we'd all be hanging out together." Riley answered, patting her back uncertainly. "But what you have to realize is that T.K would be more then willing to be your friend."

Riley let go of her and they sat down onto Lara's bed.

"What you need to do though." Riley said. "Is apologize to T.K."

Lara shook her head hopelessly.

"Like he'll forgive me."

Riley sighed and took her hand.

"Lara, I guarantee that if you mean it, he'll consider forgiving you. We're not like those people at your old school. Like it or not, we're all equal here."

Lara's face brightened slightly.

"Thanks, Riley."

"Don't mention it. If you hurry, you can catch him before his match."

"Okay." Lara said, getting up from the bed and running from the room.

Riley lay back on the bed.

"How come her sheets are softer then mine?" she asked herself out loud.

A loud knock rumbled against Gabe's dorm room door, waking him up from his nap.

"Come in!" he yawned loudly.

The door opened revealing the brown blonde head of Max.

"Hey." She said, stepping in.

"Hey, Freckles." He said, lifting his head up from his pillow.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Trying to catch up on my sleep." He answered, stifling another yawn.

She walked over and sat on his bed.

"Gabe, I want to-"

"If you say apologize, I swear I'll kill you." Gabe said, smiling. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. I didn't show any interest in this work whatsoever and we almost got a crappy mark because of me."

She smiled as well.

"I was about to say I'm sorry that your sleep cycle was trashed. I know it was all your fault."

"Oh, shut up." Gabe said, grinning. "So, uh, are we okay?"

"That depends." She said, cocking her head eyebrows slightly.

"On what?" Gabe said, extending his head closer to hers, hoping he was reading the signals correctly.

"On whether you want us to be okay." She said, leaning in as well. The space between the two of them got smaller and their lips were about to come into contact when the door burst open. They broke apart quickly. The invader turned out to be Chase.

"Guys, I've been looking all over for you. T.K's match starts in like 10 minutes."

He then noticed how close they were.

"Unless you two want to be alone." He said, grinning slyly.

"Shut up, Chase!" they said together.

"Alright, well lets go!"

Gabe and Max looked at each other and got up, both happy to have their best friend back.

A/N: I'd like to make it clear that Gabe and Max aren't going out…yet. They are merely very flirtatious.


	6. Aftermath

T.K wrapped a band around his arm. Well, this was it. If he messed up this match, he was out of Group A. He grabbed his racquet and turned to exit the locker room. But someone was standing there, blocking his way. Lara.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey." He weakly returned.

He walked up to her.

"Look, I kinda have a match."

"I know."

T.K breathed out.

"Lara, what do you want."

Lara pointed to the bench.

"Can we…"

"I have a few minutes." T.K said, moving towards the bench. They sat down.

"T.K, I feel I have to explain myself." She said, looking into his eyes with definite sincerity. "I thought that you wanted to be friends with me. It never occurred to me that you wanted to be…something more. But I can't be angry at you for expressing your feelings."

T.K looked away, emotionless at first. He then turned and faced her again.

"I'm sorry for being so forward." T.K said earnestly. "I guess I misread some signs."

"But this doesn't mean that I won't feel this way about you someday." Lara said. "I just want to be your friend right now…if you can forgive me?"

T.K smiled and extended his hand. Lara shook it and then brought him into a friendly embrace.

"Good luck on your match." She said, letting him go.

"Don't need it." He said, picking his racquet back up.

"And did you see the way he dived for that serve and totally wiped out?" Gabe asked.

"Hey, Gabe. He was pretty good." T.K said. He had won his game and successfully defended his place on Group A. Although none of the Top Guns had won the tournament between the dramas most of them had faced over the last couple days, the five couldn't be happier.

The five friends were reunited around a game of cards for the first time in two days.

T.K then noticed Lara walking by the Open entrance.

"Lara!" he shouted. She turned around and walked over to them.

"Hey, T.K. Guys."

"Lara." They all said in greeting.

"You want to join us?" he asked pointing to a space between Riley and Gabe.

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking at everyone. They all nodded.

"We need to balance out the genders here anyway." Max said, grinning.

She walked over to her spot and sat down.

"I'll wait until next game then." She said, looking happy to be part of the group.

"I guess the only one you haven't officially met is Gabe." Riley said, pointing to her brother. "Gabriel Dawson, Lara Taylor." They shook hands.

"Pleasure is all mine and let me be the first to welcome you to the Top Guns."

"Thanks." She said.

A/N: There you go. The story of how Lara joined the New Top Guns. I really hoped you liked it. I personally think it was better then Welcome to Cascadia. Anyway, please review, I am dying for some response.


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